The failed rapture prophecy of South African pastor Joshua Mhlakela has left many of his followers in shock and despair, with some lamenting the loss of jobs, homes, and belongings.
Mhlakela had predicted that the rapture would occur between Tuesday, September 23, and Wednesday, September 24.
Rapture is a popular Christian belief that Jesus Christ will return to take his followers to heaven after angels sound the trumpets. While this Biblical teaching is considered true, many doomsday preachers have attempted to predict when it would happen, and such predictions have repeatedly failed.
Mhlakela claimed that Jesus appeared to him in a vision and revealed the exact date when the world would end. He stated that the rapture would take place during the Feast of Trumpets, also known as Rosh Hashanah, a two-day Jewish festival that some Christians believe prophetically points to the rapture and the second coming of Christ.
“The rapture is upon us, whether you are ready or not, the rapture will happen in 14 days from now,” Mhlakela said in an interview with YouTube channel CettwinzTV.
“I’m a billion per cent sure that we are going to see the Lord, the rapture is going to happen. I don’t know how to assure you, but I give you a billion per cent that it is going to happen. The date of the 23rd which is going to be the rapture of the church, this date is irrefutable, it is final,” he added.
The prophecy quickly went viral and sparked mixed reactions. While many dismissed it as another failed doomsday claim, others took it seriously — resigning from jobs, selling property, and preparing for what they believed would be the end of days.
On TikTok, the hashtag #RaptureTok trended as users documented their preparation. One user, Hannah Gallman, said God confirmed the prophecy through a vision.
She said, “When I heard about Joshua’s vision, I took it seriously because it lined up with a timeframe I was already looking at. I really do believe this is happening next week. I’m not going to say 100 per cent that it will, but the confirmation God has given me seems to be pointing to next week.”
Another user, Spencer Vans, declared he was giving away his possessions.
He said, “I’m giving away my car for free, the rapture is happening tomorrow, I’m not going to need any of my earthly things anymore. I think someone will get a lot more use out of it because I’m not going to need it when I’m gone.
“I have already sold off most of my belongings; we are not going to need all of these material things anymore because the rapture will happen tomorrow.”
On the predicted day, videos surfaced online showing hundreds gathered in the woods, waiting to be taken up. Mhlakela also went live, confidently declaring that the rapture was imminent. He was joined by some of his followers.
But after hours passed and nothing happened, Mhlakela said, “I wonder how God works this out. What I know is that it will happen within these two days, but I cannot tell how He arranges the minutes and the seconds, because at any moment something could happen.” He urged his followers to remain patient and hopeful.
However, many expressed regret and disappointment on social media.
A TikTok user, Sath Babii, said the failed prophecy left him devastated.
He said, “Some of you might have seen my video where I was talking about how the rapture is upon us and as we approach the end of the day it is looking like it is not happening. I feel foolish, I feel dumb. I left my job, I gave away my things, I am feeling really lost. I’m feeling like everything I believed in has been a lie, I’m losing my faith.
“I was so ready to go home to Jesus, why would He (Jesus) leave me here, things are as bad as they have ever been, if the rapture is not now, it is never going to happen and I don’t know where to go from here. I don’t think that I could really be Christian anymore.”
Another user lamented how hard it would be to restart life after giving away everything.
“I don’t know what to do. I woke up this morning and everyone is still here. I donated…, I sold my car, I gave away my favourite funko pop, everything is gone. I guess I have heard that it can still be today but I’m starting to worry,” he said while sobbing.
Earlier, the Shepherd Superintendent of the Household of God Church, Pastor Chris Okotie, dismissed Mhlakela’s prophecy as “prideful ejaculations of a spiritual charlatan or the spurious agitations of religious mountebankism.”
In a YouTube video, Okotie explained that the prediction was unbiblical and argued Mhlakela was wrong to link the rapture to the Feast of Trumpets.
He said, “The rapture will not and cannot take place on a Jewish feast and your conclusions are diametrically opposed to new testament doctrine and they are at variance with biblical revelation.
“This is from me to you brother Joshua, at the end of the month of September and you discover that the rapture has not taken place and indeed it will not, my encouragement to you is that you don’t become despondent and begin to blame yourself and begin to think that the Lord has abandoned you. Do not get into some kind of flagellation or penitent bastinado because He will always be with you, He will never leave you nor forsake you. Just pick up the pieces, be a man and get on with your faith.”
Also reacting, the National Director of National Issues and Social Welfare of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Abimbola Ayuba, in an interview with Ebelenaija Official, cautioned Christians against following “heretical preachers” and said such individuals should face sanctions.
He said, “These types of people are those that the government should penalise for misguiding and misinforming the people. The pastor should be raptured into detention.”
Ayuba further noted that it was regrettable that some still fell for Mhlakela’s prophecy, pointing out that history has long been marked by failed doomsday predictions.
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